Disappointed: Anyone Ever Have This Happen? Sailing Soon & Cabin # Changed by Royal

[Snit13]

And often priced higher than booking a double occupancy cabin as a solo.

 

 

 

 

They will not do that unless they upgrade you from, say, a JS to a GS. But they can't downgrade you and keep your fare. Promisekeeper posted earlier that it happened to her, but as far as I'm concerned, RCI committed fraud in her case. What they didn't do was initially offer money to somebody to move over to another cruise or downgrade, which is what I've read on CC that Princess does. And they throw lots of money at people to get them to do it.

 

Thank You. Was just afraid there was some small print in their contract that I hadn't heard about. Have a JS booked on Majesty for Nov. 17 and would not sail in OV or inside. I believe a JS holds up to 4 and there are only 2 of us.

[mittchelandsophie]

I booked over the phone with RC and they booked my husband and I in a corner aft on AOS. I was never told that I could lose this room due to a 3 person booking. I booked specifically for this room and would be very disappointed if I lost it without warning.

[patrioticgirl]

I have no idea how or who makes these decisions. Not a job I envy, let me tell you. But for all we know, they ask the Magic 8-Ball or throw gummy bears at deck plans to select which rooms get bumped.

 

I really do feel for the OP. All my devil's advocate posting in this thread aside, I'd be mad if it happened to me too. I think most of us would.

 

"Mad" does not describe my feeling about what has happened. I am more accurately "sad' that a vacation that I have greatly anticipated taking was altered and that my cabin was changed without the courtesy of a phone call from a company that I have supported as a customer.

 

The change of my stateroom, while perhaps perfectly acceptable, as you have pointed out as devil's advocate, has caused me great disappointment . For 17 months I have tremendously looked forward to taking a cruise in an aft cabin. I made a reservation on July 19, 2015....one day shy of 17 months before the sailing date. I booked a reservation specifically for a corner aft cabin, not a side facing aft cabin with a standard 40 foot balcony.

 

I rarely book cabins that are not inside cabins, but when I do booked an alternate cabin category with Royal Caribbean, it has ALWAYS been an aft stateroom. My cruising history with Royal shows just that.... either inside or aft booked for every single reservation made.

 

I purposely book the specific cabin I desire .... just as I purposely plan my dates of cruising. I am a single elementary school teacher who loves to cruise. Because I teach, my vacation options are limited to school vacations and the summer months, which are often the most expensive times to cruise. I budget my money to make sure I can cruise during those holiday times because cruising a priority that just happens to be one of my most favorite things in the world to do. When I do book an aft, I have splurged, so the cruise becomes even more of a special treat for me to look forward to taking.

 

My last cruise was 21 months ago. I was home from my spring 2015 cruise less than 3 months and felt the need to have another on the calendar; having one booked, regardless of how far out it might be, keeps me excited about cruising and I always look forward to the next one with great anticipation. Parental health issues have made it difficult to book any other cruising dates OR a vacation of any sort during the last year and a half, but I kept this trip on the calendar with determination that I would find a way to make this voyage.

 

I have sailed in the cabin I thought I would be occupying this month once before , so I knew that during this highly anticipated holiday I would be able to savor the quiet of that aft balcony as I read my book and watched the wake. As silly as it may sound, I knew I would have 5 days of peaceful regeneration doing what I love most.

 

For a good part of the last year, my cover photo has been a picture that I took of the balcony looking out over Labadee as the ship came into port early one morning. It has given me a daily reminder that good things were in my future, especially the voyage that I could not wait to take!

 

I never imagined that Royal Caribbean would change my cabin or upgrade me to another. Never before has there been any alteration to my reservation on Royal Caribbean, so I never anticipated that it would ever happen. I've sailed in an aft cabins 4 or 5 times on Royal Caribbean, and on 3 of those voyages I've sailed solo. When I've previously booked aft cabins ,not once has any agent ever mentioned that I might possibly be moved to another location because I was booked as a solo or a double in a stateroom for 3 passengers.

 

And yes, I know that a cruise contract states that the carrier reserves the option to make changes, but based my historical sailing experiences, I did not expect a cabin change of any sort to ever take place. Yes ... I was blindsided, and Yes, this may be embarrassingly naive, perhaps even stupid on my part, but the possibility of being booted out of my cabin never once crossed my mind. I have been a tremendous supporter of the Royal Caribbean brand; I guess I erroneously believed that I was a valued customer and that being "Loyal to Royal" might matter.

 

To find out 13 days before embarkation that my cabin had been changed, and then to be told it was to accommodate another party, and then to be told that I could not be moved back to accommodate my cabin preference has been a real let down... and a real eye opener. I've gone from being super excited about the upcoming voyage to not really caring if I sail on this voyage at all.

 

While inclined to stay home, I have spent 400+ dollars on nonrefundable airfare, so part of me says to go. However, there is a part of me that fears that the voyage will be spent wondering who is staying in the cabin that for 17 months I foolishly anticipated would be my own little piece of paradise and my home away from five glorious days in December. So much for dreaming. :(

 

So there you have it, Miss Gwen, Miss Devil's Advocate, Miss Lisa, or whoever you may happen to be.... the explanation why mad in not actually mad, but sad. There is indeed, a difference in the two.

 

Now, I am going to go eat some gummy bears for breakfast and ask my Magic 8-Ball if I will get call from Royal Caribbean's resolution specialist today. :)

 

P.S. By the way, Miss Gwen, I see you made your first post during the first week of November when you posted on a Radiance of the Seas roll call for an Alaska sailing in May 2017. In that post, you identified yourself as Lisa and stated the Alaska cruise would be your first cruise ever, stated you'd just joined Cruise Critic, and mentioned you'd been lurking for two years. In 20 some posts since joining Cruise Critic; you've been able to accurately comment in threads to questions regarding beverage package purchases, cancellation policy, room service charges for standard stateroom/suite guests, guarantee stateroom bookings, cruise line policy on booking high school groups, and the new Cuba itineraries. In viewing your prior posts, I see that in two threads, you have called yourself the "Devil's Advocate" (and have responded as if you were the Devil's Advocate in several other posts without stating the fact). I truly commend your wealth of knowledge, but I am left wondering if this devil's advocate works in the travel industry, works for the cruise line, or happens to be from the South (I noticed that you used a comment in a post for another thread that my southern grandmother would often say: "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar". Ain't that the truth?:D

 

Edited December 10, 2016 by patrioticgirl

[les37b]

funnily enough there exists an individual promoting Carnival often quoting T&Cs and having such an intimate knowledge of how things work. Strangely that individual has the same "humour" as the Carnival "Ambassador" who promotes on facebook and has a blog and even more strangely always seems to be on the same cruises too. Funny that!

 

I expect your suspicions towards individuals displaying more than a hint of fanboyism is not without Merrit.

[molly361]

People have used this contact before with very good results:

 

Aurora "Laly" Yera-Rodriguez

Director, Guest Relations & Shared Services

Azamara Club Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, & Royal Caribbean International

954-628-9313 (ext. 19313)

ayera-rodriguez@rccl.com

 

Sorry if I missed it - Did you try contacting her OP??

[patrioticgirl]

This is the photo referred to in prior post......:(

[SilkySal]

This is the photo referred to in prior post......:(

 

We have one of those corner afts on Navigator for our March, 2018 ABC cruise and I would be sorely disappointed if they move us to another cabin!!:( However, it wouldn't be enough of a disappointment to not go! I am praying that you regain your cabin but, if not, I hope you still go and have a wonderful time!:cool: Sometimes miracles happen!;) Thanks for being a teacher, as I believe teachers are very special people!!

[FLSteve11]

Interesting points, missgwen. After 40+ cruises and 30 years as a (now retired) travel agent, never, ever, EVER did I look at occupancy possibility when booking a cabin, nor did any cruise line ever warn me that my or my clients' cabins could be whisked away from them to satisfy a guarantee. This still smacks to me of something more - will we someday be booking "deluxe balcony" as in a hotel booking, with no specific cabin? I don't like it.

Linda

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I find it interesting, because in the past there was NEVER a 3-person GTY option. We sail 3 people (me, DW, DD) 75% of the time, and I've never had the opportunity to sail in a GTY, because it wasn't available for 3-people. Is this something new that RCCL is doing recently? I know Carnival allowed it, and NCL sometimes, but it was never done on any of our RCCL sailings before.

[MissGwen]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I read, I know how to search for answers. If that makes me a Royal fangirl or somehow "suspect" to you, so be it. Judge me all you want internet stranger :rolleyes: What you think of me or who you think I am matters to me not at all.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise. You may not have the room you originally dreamed of but you're still on a cruise, in a balcony. That's something that millions of people will never, ever get to experience in their life.

[Beachammo]

Maybe I've missed it (I've only been around CC about 3 years) of another situation like this. If this was happening regularly I believe these boards would be on fire!

Makes me think something happened behind the scenes to kick the OP out by Royal for either an employee or VIP.

 

It wasn't random.....

 

 

 

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

[robtulipe]

The upgrade preference page in the My Cruises profile has changed as it use to have many more conditional options than the two shown below. There was "Don't move me if my reservation is linked to a next door or connecting cabin" and "Only upgrade to the next class of cabins" and a few others.

I believe when RCI recently redid this page they didn't consider what the previous version had checked as options so all should redo their upgrade preference if they had previously indicated their preference.

 

 

I forgot to mention in my post above that upgrade preference use to be an opt in for automatic upgrades but now is an opt out for this so if no selection is made one is considered opted in for this IMO. :rolleyes:

Edited December 10, 2016 by robtulipe

[RFerrington]

but now is an opt out for this so if no selection is made one is considered opted in for this IMO

 

I checked my preferences this morning and it is still the "old" way with an option to upgrade or not. Maybe they are changing the preference options on some rotating basis but mine are still the same way they were the last time I checked them.

[dcgrumpy]

I forgot to mention in my post above that upgrade preference use to be an opt in for automatic upgrades but now is an opt out for this so if no selection is made one is considered opted in for this IMO. :rolleyes:

 

I still have the the old page which has a lot more options.

 

Upgrade Preferences:

-I prefer an automatic upgrade

-I do not wish to upgrade my stateroom

-I would like an upgrade but have restrictions

-------If I am traveling with friends or family and would like our rooms to be near one another

-------I do not wish to be upgraded to Boardwalk or Central Park balcony staterooms (OA/AL only)

-------I do not wish to be upgraded into an accessible stateroom

-------I would like to stay on the same deck as my current stateroom

-------I do not wish to be moved to a lower deck

-------I only wish to be upgraded to a stateroom that is near an elevator

Edited December 10, 2016 by dcgrumpy

[Beachammo]

I still have the the old page which has a lot more options.

 

+2

Old way

[Snit13]

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

I read, I know how to search for answers. If that makes me a Royal fangirl or somehow "suspect" to you, so be it. Judge me all you want internet stranger :rolleyes: What you think of me or who you think I am matters to me not at all.

 

 

Enjoy your cruise. You may not have the room you originally dreamed of but you're still on a cruise, in a balcony. That's something that millions of people will never, ever get to experience in their life.

 

West Coast, USA........go figure.

[dcgrumpy]

I would be really annoyed.

 

I completely understand wanting a specific cabin. We're a family of 5. While we are able to stay in numerous family cabins the only one I'll book is 8500 on Voyager/ Freedom class. If that room isn't available I'll book 2 cabins. If we were moved to another room I would not be happy. Well unless of course it was the Royal or Presidential Family Suite. LOL

[Beachammo]

West Coast, USA........go figure.

LOL[emoji106]

 

 

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

[robtulipe]

I still have the the old page which has a lot more options.

 

Upgrade Preferences:

-I prefer an automatic upgrade

-I do not wish to upgrade my stateroom

-I would like an upgrade but have restrictions

-------If I am traveling with friends or family and would like our rooms to be near one another

-------I do not wish to be upgraded to Boardwalk or Central Park balcony staterooms (OA/AL only)

-------I do not wish to be upgraded into an accessible stateroom

-------I would like to stay on the same deck as my current stateroom

-------I do not wish to be moved to a lower deck

-------I only wish to be upgraded to a stateroom that is near an elevator

 

Maybe that's one of our D+ benefits. DW's upgrade preference in her profile shows the same 3 options shown in the screen shot in my post above. RCI likely wanted to make simpler for us and they benefit from you having to opt out of automatic upgrades before they then can steal your cabin. :eek:

Edited December 10, 2016 by robtulipe

[Biker19]

Maybe that's one of our D+ benefits.

 

Lowly D here, have the same preferences.

[patrioticgirl]

I would be really annoyed.

 

I completely understand wanting a specific cabin. We're a family of 5. While we are able to stay in numerous family cabins the only one I'll book is 8500 on Voyager/ Freedom class. If that room isn't available I'll book 2 cabins. If we were moved to another room I would not be happy. Well unless of course it was the Royal or Presidential Family Suite. LOL

 

Glad someone else understands..... I have been told over and over by anyone I have spoken to that the cabin I was moved to is an upgrade from an E1 to a D2 category. If you have ever been in an aft balcony E1 on a Voyager class, you know this is JUST not the case. The E1 aft cabin with the large balcony was the ultimate destination vacation, not the ports or the ship. I booked the cruise specifically for the corner aft balcony's size and the peace and quiet it offers. That is why I have been so very disappointed that the cabin was changed. If I don't book aft, I book inside. It is as simple as that. The Royal Suite would have to be an aft cabin for me to be pleased about a move. I had been so excited... now I have little desire to even go on the cruise.

[bluewater1298]

Glad someone else understands..... I have been told over and over by anyone I have spoken to that the cabin I was moved to is an upgrade from an E1 to a D2 category. If you have ever been in an aft balcony E1 on a Voyager class, you know this is JUST not the case. The E1 aft cabin with the large balcony was the ultimate destination vacation, not the ports or the ship. I booked the cruise specifically for the corner aft balcony's size and the peace and quiet it offers. That is why I have been so very disappointed that the cabin was changed. If I don't book aft, I book inside. It is as simple as that. The Royal Suite would have to be an aft cabin for me to be pleased about a move. I had been so excited... now I have little desire to even go on the cruise.

 

I completely understand. DH and I have that same cabin booked on Adventure of the Seas next month. We love corner aft balconies and have been looking forward to being on that balcony. After reading your posts, I am so nervous that they could take it away. I would be very disappointed if that happened. And of course you want the room you booked - I book early also to get the cabin I want. It doesn't seem right that they could just take that away from you. I hope you can find someone that will help you. Don't give up.

[Coralc]

West Coast, USA........go figure.

 

LOL[emoji106]

 

 

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

:p:p:p

[Bonnie Voyager]

I also understand...I too had booked a deck 7 aft/corner cabin with 2 passengers (18 months in advance) because it was listed as being an available choice for me! Less than a week prior to sailing I also noticed that they had moved me. Same scenario too! They said I was "upgraded"...to a standard category D side balcony. And they admitted they had already filled my primo aft cabin presumably with 3 passengers, and there was no recourse for me. Ship was full, and I got what I got!

 

Like you, I went through all 5 stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and ultimately...acceptance. Yes, I did eventually just accept things as they were, took the lemon they had handed me and made lemonade...and ended up having a superb cruise. Once onboard, I can't say that I ever even thought about my former cabin. (Okay, maybe a little) But, bottom line, go ahead a grieve your loss of that primo cabin, you need to do that...but in the end don't let this situation turn your cruise into a lemon! ;)

 

Move forward and have a great cruise! :)

[patrioticgirl]

I also understand...I too had booked a deck 7 aft/corner cabin with 2 passengers (18 months in advance) because it was listed as being an available choice for me! Less than a week prior to sailing I also noticed that they had moved me. Same scenario too! They said I was "upgraded"...to a standard category D side balcony. And they admitted they had already filled my primo aft cabin presumably with 3 passengers, and there was no recourse for me. Ship was full, and I got what I got!

 

Like you, I went through all 5 stages of grief - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and ultimately...acceptance. Yes, I did eventually just accept things as they were, took the lemon they had handed me and made lemonade...and ended up having a superb cruise. Once onboard, I can't say that I ever even thought about my former cabin. (Okay, maybe a little) But, bottom line, go ahead a grieve your loss of that primo cabin, you need to do that...but in the end don't let this situation turn your cruise into a lemon! ;)

 

Move forward and have a great cruise! :)

 

Hi Bonnie, thank you for chiming in; it is good to hear your perspective .... and that this has indeed happened to an even more loyal Royal customer than me. I know it seems silly, but I have taken this very personally and been crushed that this happened.

It is good to cross paths again, too. We were on the Serenade together in March of 2008... both in aft balconies. I remember how helpful you were then and know how helpful you are on these boards. I do appreciate your comment so much.:)

[Bonnie Voyager]

Hi Bonnie, thank you for chiming in; it is good to hear your perspective .... and that this has indeed happened to an even more loyal Royal customer than me. I know it seems silly, but I have taken this very personally and been crushed that this happened.

It is good to cross paths again, too. We were on the Serenade together in March of 2008... both in aft balconies. I remember how helpful you were then and know how helpful you are on these boards. I do appreciate your comment so much.:)

 

I thought that was you! For fun, I just went back and re-read our Serenade Roll Call Thread from that 2008 cruise! Great memories of a great cruise! :D